Ralph McLeod

Ralph Alton McLeod (October 19, 1916 – April 27, 2007) was a left fielder in Major League Baseball who played briefly for the Boston Bees late in the 1938 season. Listed at 6ft 0in, 170 lb., he batted and threw left-handed. A native of Quincy, Massachusetts, McLeod was called up to the majors by the Boston Bees in September 1938. He collected his first hit, a single, off St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Paul Dean on September 21 –the same day the Hurricane of 1938 struck New England. During the off season he worked as a salesman at a department store, but his baseball career was cut short when he was drafted into the United States Army during World War II. In a six-game career, he was a .286 hitter (2-for-7), including one double and one run scored. McLeod served as an infantryman for five years and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. After being discharged, he worked as a firefighter in his native Quincy for 32 years until his retirement in 1980. McLeod died in Weymouth, Massachusetts, at the age of 90.